The rhino's complex geometry and scale created immediate design and fabrication challenges, as the system was too large to fabricate in one piece and ship to site. An HSS-steel platform moment frame forms the primary structural system that transfers loads to the foundation while supporting the colorful climbing surfaces on the legs and belly developed in coordination with Eldorado Climbing Walls. Above the platform, an HSS rib frame provides the scaffold for the rhino’s skin surface.
The skin surface consists of a Corten structural-steel facet frame clad with perforated Corten steel plates. Custom plate tee-sections create a faceted, triangulated truss rigid enough to draw load demand away from the plate surfaces and support their out-of-plane axis against bending and buckling.
JunoWorks developed the fabrication model in Rhino 3D, while CRAFT ran FEM calculations using Grasshopper. The shared 3D model helped to coordinate design changes and component collisions. The fabrication and assembly sequence developed by JunoWorks was particularly critical for assembling prefabricated structural components on site.
| Location | 29th Street & Arkins Court, RiNo Art District Denver, Colorado USA |
| Structural Design | CRAFT | Engineering Studio |
| Architect | Sasaki Design |
| Producer | JunoWorks |
| Climbing Walls | Eldorado Climbing Walls |
| Development | Golub Capital |
